Swine flu tests were being carried out on 26 people across Scotland yesterday as Britain's first confirmed victims of the virus recovered in hospital. Nine people who have been in close contact with newlyweds Iain and Dawn Askham (right) are among those undergoing tests.

Another 14 people with travel links to Mexico or affected parts of the United States have also shown symptoms of swine flu and are being tested, said Scotland's health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon.

The cases came from several health board areas - Greater Glasgow, Lothians, Grampian, Tayside and Lanarkshire. Their symptoms were described as mild.

A second couple, Pete and Jenny Marshall, who became ill after returning from their honeymoon in Mexico, have been quarantined in their home as they wait to find out if they have contracted the swine flu virus, it was reported last night.

They said they had been told to stay at their house in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh with their friend Gemma O'Brien, who had been looking after the property, until they get test results back in five days.

The Department of Health said last night that leaflets would be distributed to households across the UK containing information on the swine flu virus. A spokeswoman said: "The leaflet will be sent out next week, cover the whole of the UK and will contain information about this flu outbreak and preventative messages."

There were reports last night that the department had ordered millions of surgical face masks for health workers, but the spokeswoman would only say discussions were taking place with manufacturers. "We are talking to a number of manufacturers about procuring face masks. We are not in a position to provide further details at this stage.

"Although we are aware that face masks are being given out to the public in Mexico, the available scientific evidence does not support the general wearing of face masks by those who are not ill while going about their normal activities."

In Warsaw, Gordon Brown said "all the urgent action that is necessary" would be taken to stop the spread of the virus. He participated in a Cobra meeting by phone yesterday. He also urged people to consult a doctor if they have health concerns but stressed that Britain is "among the best prepared countries in the world" to fight the spread of the disease.

Sturgeon was keen to stress that the symptoms of the people being tested in Scotland were mild and that they were not confirmed cases.

She added that a passenger on the same flight used by the Askhams to fly home from the Mexican resort of Cancún last Tuesday had also shown mild flu symptoms in England, and was being tested.

Dr Harry Burns, Scotland's chief medical officer, indicated that most of those extra cases involved people aged between 25 and 40, in common with the large majority of the victims in Mexico.

It is understood, however, that the nine people with symptoms within the Askhams' "contact group" include a five-year-old child and possibly colleagues of Dawn Askham's at a branch of Boots in Polmont, where she worked as a dispensing assistant but had no direct contact with customers.

In a joint statement issued yesterday by the couple's parents, Iain and Pauline Askham, and Linda and Brian Colston, the families said: "They were both quite shocked that the result was positive for swine flu."

Within hours, both families and their close friends found themselves under surveillance. Both sets of parents are now under voluntary quarantine, taking regular doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, waiting for the couple to be discharged from hospital.